


Avatar Sugato

by A_F_S_M_A_S



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang Week 2021, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29620143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_F_S_M_A_S/pseuds/A_F_S_M_A_S
Summary: Aang calls on a past life for much needed wisdom.Aang Week, Day 3Prompt: Avatar State or Cycle
Kudos: 12





	Avatar Sugato

“Roku, I have a question.”

“Yes, Aang?”

“You once told me that the Avatar State is a defense mechanism, that it endows me with the skill and knowledge of all my past lives.”

Roku nodded, surprised by this out of the blue topic. “Yes.”

“How did you learn to control it? Did you have to unlock your chakras too?”

“In a way. The trial you underwent with Guru Pathik was rare, and done out of necessity. You had only a short time to learn all that you needed in order to face the fire lord. Under normal circumstances, when an avatar has a lifetime to spend learning the four bending disciplines, you would have unlocked your chakras over years. Enlightenment comes from the insight that only experience can give us. You, Aang, managed to pack quite a number of experiences into such a small window of time.”

“Did you ever lose control of the Avatar State?”

Roku shook his head. “No. In a way, I wish I had at least once. Then I could relate to your own experiences and give you better counsel.”

The incidents at the North Pole, Fong’s base, and the desert flashed in Aang’s mind. “I wouldn’t wish a loss of control on anyone.”

“Is there a reason you have asked me about the Avatar State today, Aang?”

He answered with another question. “Where did the Avatar State originally come from? When was it created?”

“I first learned of the Avatar State from Kyoshi, who learned of it from Kuruk, who learned from Yangchen. If you want to know how it first came to be, then you will have to speak to the one who first discovered it.”

Roku closed his eyes. His form faded, but the sapphire energy of the spirit world remained. Aang could feel his mentor’s presence reaching out to the familiar, strong spirit of Kyoshi. But before Kyoshi took shape, he felt her reach out to Kuruk’s spirit, troubled and vengeful. That gave way to the calm, wise energy of Yangchen, but it didn’t stop there.

Spirit after spirit of the avatars who came before unveiled their wisdom and power. He could feel the great unbroken chain of the Avatar Cycle unfurling before him. Students reached out to their mentors, and they to their own. The path sped by so quickly that the individual energies blurred together into an overwhelming tempest. Then, suddenly, it stopped. Aang arrived at the link just after the first. The spiritual energies in front of him took new form, that of a person he did not recognize.

They were a willowy figure, with long limbs and features. Their brown, wrinkled skin reminded Aang of Kanna. They wore a wooden cuirass with greaves and vambraces to match over a simple tunic, trousers, and a long skirt. The flowering vines draped around their neck and shoulders decorated their body like the jewels and cloak of a queen. Their head was bowed to him, covered by the conical hat of woven leaves they wore.

“Greetings, young avatar,” the spirit greeted in a voice that had a raspy quality to it, yet it flowed like a stream in spring.

Aang bowed his head. “Hello. I am Aang of the Air Nomads.”

“So you’re the one who ended the biggest war the world has even known, huh?”

He gave a humble shrug. “I had a lot of help from my friends.”

The strange avatar gave him a jovial laugh. “Friends have a habit of doing that.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “May I have your name, master?”

“The world knew me as Sugato of the Golden Tongue…” they said, raising their head to let Aang see the wisdom in their brown eyes and the warmth of their smile, “but my friends call me Giang.”

“Sugato? THE Sugato? I’ve heard stories about you!”

“Stories alter, grow, or even spring up out of nowhere all the time.”

“Yeah. Some said you were a woman, others called you a man.”

“Ha!” they barked in amusement. “Gender is a stupid concept. I would have at least hoped that truth would have been apparent in the tales.”

Aang had no argument there. The Air Nomads had a freer and more open minded perspective on subjects such as gender and sexuality than the rest of the world. “They do still paint you as larger than life. They say you knew a thousand languages, that you could speak to the living and dead, and won an entire war by uttering a single word.”

They were pleased at his appraisal. “And why shouldn’t my stories make a giant of me? I’m the second avatar! It doesn’t make me as much of a legend as being the first, but I take pride in my own stories, and in being the first avatar of the Water Tribe.”

That’s when it dawned on Aang. He knew he had seen clothes like that before. “You’re a Foggy Swampbender!”

Giang raised an eyebrow. “Foggy Swamp? Is that what they call my home nowadays?”

Aang nodded, recognizing how the modern name might sound on ancient ears.

They let out a short, annoyed groan before continuing. “My mother’s people were once of the Southern Water Tribe. Long ago, they had left their homeland and ventured into the Earth Kingdom, wandering until they settled in the swamp. My mother was sailing with her catgator one day when she heard a great ruckus from one of her nets. She rushed over to find not the carp or bass she hoped for but an earthbender who wasn’t minding his step and had fallen in. She laughed at him before cutting him free. The next thing she knew, the earthbender was her husband and the father of the baby in her belly. Mom used to tell that story to prove that she was the best fisher in the tribe.”

Aang smiled, overwhelmed by how endearing the story was. It made him wonder if he should put such a grandiose flourish on how Katara freed him from the iceberg, that only a master waterbender like her could have saved him and, by extension, the world.

“But,” Giang said, pulling back their hat, “I get the feeling you didn’t ask to meet with me just to converse about my family history.”

Aang shuffled in his seat, preparing himself for the heart of the matter. “I wanted to ask about the Avatar State.”

Giang studied him for a moment, without mistrust or condemnation. It made Aang wonder how much the second avatar could divine from just his expression and the tone of his voice. Giang elaborated without commenting on either. “I was eleven when I first experienced it. My friends and I had snuck away from home to search for a flying cow spirit that Vinh said he had seen while fishing with his dad. We ended up getting ourselves thoroughly lost, and we wandered into a part of the swamp that our parents told us to avoid. They ended up being right, because our detour ended up with us getting attacked by a massive boar python. We tried running, but it was faster than us. We tried climbing a tree, but it just followed us. We tried to fight, but what were a group of kids going to do to that monster? Loan was knocked out by a single swing of its tail. I threw myself between her and its gaping maw. It was in that moment, staring at the long fangs coming down on me, that my body was not my own anymore. I was overcome with this power that took control of my movements. I was waterbending in ways I never could before. That’s where the blackout in my memory comes. Next thing I knew, I was back in bed, with my friends and my extremely worried parents standing over me.”

“Did you have any problems as an adult? Any issues controlling the Avatar State during or after your training?”

They saw right through him. “You want to know if I ever lost control in a bad way.”

Aang nodded respectfully.

Giang answered with a hint of hesitance, “I did. When my girlfriend was threatened.”

“How?”

“In my time, the avatar was still a new idea to the world. Yes, the first avatar was a good man, one who fostered peace and avoided war whenever possible. He was unorthodox by Air Nomad standards, though I imagine much of those ancient ways might seem alien to your own. In my own lifetime, many Air Nomads had carried on Avatar Lokavidu’s ways, and I suspect their beliefs are more in line with your own.

“The idea of a person wielding all four elements scared many people. Power like that can be easily abused. In a world where kings and generals pride themselves on their martial abilities, where entire wars could come down to the difference in skill between two warriors in single combat, the concept of the avatar’s power was an affront to their ego. Some tried to manipulate me in hopes of using me for their own gain. Others were more honest in their ill intentions.

“We were traveling in the north when they ambushed us. They gave us no warning, no quarter, no mercy. I brought up an earth wall to give us cover, but not quickly enough. Xiulan took an arrow to the shoulder and fell to the ground. After that… I snapped. I lost myself to the power of the Avatar State. I laid waste to my enemies, indulging in bloodlust unbecoming of an avatar. I was so consumed by my rage that I ignored the few but serious injuries they scored on me during my rampage. If I had continued, if my other friends hadn’t intervened, if Xiulan hadn’t called out to me, then perhaps the Avatar Cycle might have ended that day.”

Giang paused for a moment, and Aang respected their need for a brief silence. When they continued, they spoke slowly. “My predecessor did not have kind words for me that day. I knew I was in deep shit when his spirit formed in my mind. ‘The Avatar State is supposed to protect you!’ he said. ‘The power and knowledge I give you is a last line of defense, not a sword to use in anger!’ I gave the only excuse I could, that I was not using my powers as the avatar. They were using me. ...even after all of my training, even after Lokavidu’s death, we still had new things to learn about being the avatar.”

“I know that feeling,” Aang admitted, thinking of his own experiences.

“But I doubt you called on me just for a history lesson,” they said, getting to the point. “Why did you want to ask me about the Avatar State?”

Aang took a calming breath and told Giang, “Recently, my friends and I participated in another battle. The war is over, but there are still chaotic forces at work. Some of them are stronger than others, stronger than I anticipated. It… it was a brief lapse in judgment. I-”

They cut him off. “And there we reach the purpose of this conversation. You lost control of the Avatar State, despite all of your training to learn to control it, and are now ashamed of yourself.”

Wordless, Aang nodded his head.

“Our fumbles, our shortcomings, and our failures do not erase the progress we have made. You must always remember these mistakes, so that they can give you the proper humility, but do not let them cloud your judgment and weaken your resolve.”

“But what if it happens again? What if I make another mistake? What if-”

Giang snapped their fingers, snapping him back to attention. They raised a single finger in a gesture befitting a reprimand from a teacher who knew when to be stern. “An avatar does not let them themselves be consumed by 'what ifs.' Indecision is the bane of action, and the avatar’s actions are needed to maintain the balance of the world. Surely your mentor has taught you the value of being decisive.”

Aang nodded again.

“You are a fully realized avatar, despite your young age. Tell me of the lessons you have learned to combat your inner demons, your doubts, the bad experiences of your life.”

He recited the wisdom of Guru Pathik, letting it flow peacefully. “Surrender my fear so that I can live my life. Accept the reality that my mistakes happened so that I can forgive myself. Make peace with every aspect of who I am to let go my disappointments. Recognize that the love of those I have lost is reborn whenever I feel love for someone else. Reject the lies I have told myself and embrace truth. Look past illusions to see the harmony present in the world. Release… release my attachments and accept the energies of the cosmos.”

Though Giang had no physical touch, the presence of their spectral hand on Aang’s shoulder was a comfort. “Then the only thing of value I can give you is this: remember your lessons. Faltering on the path of life doesn’t erase the distance you have already traveled. As I said, our mistakes make us humble, but more importantly they make us human, which is the avatar’s greatest quality. Never forget who you are, Aang, and what you have done and learned to make yourself into the person that the world needs you to be, the person that you want to be.”

The guilt was still present, deep within his gut, but it didn’t feel as heavy as it used to. At the very least, he had a good reminder of the teachings he had been taught to carry such burdens in a better way until he could let them go. Aang, with a small smile on his face, brought his hands together and bowed. “Thank you for your wisdom, Avatar Sugato.”

“You’re welcome, Avatar Aang. But remember this one thing...”

“What?”

They gave him one more parting smile before their form disappeared. “My friends call me Giang.”

**Author's Note:**

> In which I further prove that I spend way too much time on worldbuilding (both canon and my own).
> 
> Making OC avatars is fun! In addition to Lokavidu and Sugato, I also wrote out details for the first Earth and Fire avatars!
> 
> This is my first time writing a gender-fluid or agender character, so if you are a member of either community and feel that there are elements of Sugato's portrayal that could use a little work, please feel free to comment!
> 
> I do want to give one shout-out for this fic. Over on tumblr there's a wonderful artist by the username der-andere-aang whose OC, Avatar Tulok, was one of my inspirations for Avatar Sugato. Check out their work, they make great taang art! (they're also the only artist that can do Aang with a mustache or beard justice)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> -A.F.S.M.A.S.


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